KULDEEP NAYAR ,V K SINGH,THE INDIAN ARMY, PAKISTAN AND OTHER SHORT STORIES

'' Mr. kuldip why all these things are happening in kashmir only, you are proud of your indian army i have no objection, why all these so called people heart winning dramas your brave army is performing. You will say now kashmir is a border state hence all these corrupt practices then why not these dramas in Rajasthan, Punjab, H.P. The only answer for this is kashmiris are never with you whether you agree or disagree.Please come to senses and reallize the truth the sooner the better. This is the the reallity do not beat about the bush ''

In response
to Mr Kuldeep Nayar:

Dear Mr
Kuldeep Nayar,

1Greetings. At
the onset I shall take some time on the
comment made by Mr Qayoom Wani on your article before I take on the rather specious piece
authored by you, ''Aberrations in the Army''--Mr Wani has neither conveyed any
sense nor has he made any point.It is also evident that Mr Wani has no concept
of what a Nation State really is and how one is formed!!! Very conveniently he
is forgetting about the divide existing in half the world today. Sectarian
violence persists from Pakistan to Yemen and is a major element of friction
throughout the Middle East. These tensions between communities have intensified because
of the recent power struggles, the Iraq
War ,the Syrian civil war, unrest in, Egypt,Lebanon,Xinjian,Chechenya,Afghanistan
and the spillover of this religion based strife to dozens of African , Asian and even European nations. Do we
agree Mr Wani , that each of these countries having such diverse populations, aspirations
and ethnicities should breakup with independence given to each of these
factions!!!! Lets take Saudi Arabia (where Mr Wani is staying) first.

2 2Saudi Arabia ,
a Country where the concept of origin ( asl ) is strong among Saudi Arabians. People
in Hijaz area are recognized as descendants of Muhammad and are known as Ashraf
. 0thers throughout the kingdom assert
descent from ancestors of ancient Arab tribes. Still others stress
Arabian origins but without tribal connections. Saudi Arabia also faces simmering internal divisions that could
surface very soon. It could very well break into the five
original regions that preceded the modern State. Does that mean that the
existing Nation State of Saudi Arabia should break up and all ethnicities,
religious ,geographical and tribal factions be allowed to make their own little
Nations???

3 Now lets take Pakistan for the benefit
of Mr Wani. Because Karachi's largest community are Mohajirs who make up almost half of the population as
opposed to Punjabis and Pathans(who
make up slightly more than a quarter of the population), should Pakistan grant
total independence to Karachi, a city plagued by violence , bomb blasts and
assassinations , to end this blood shed
and strife between Mohajirs on one side and Punjabi's/Pathans on the other???
What about the demand for a separate Saraiki province and the Pakistan Muslim League’s (Quaid) demand for Hazara province ??? Mr Wani do you
think all these provinces want to stay as a part of Pakistan??

4 A word about the Balochistan
Republican Army, Baloch Liberation Front, Balochistan Liberation United Front,
Baloch Defaee Tanzeem and Lashkar-e-Balochistan that are operating in Balochistan. Should
Balochistan become independent????Then there is FATA--about five thousands Pakistani soldiers and officers have been
killed in the ongoing military operations in various parts of the North West of
Pakistan.Mr
Wani, would you like to say something?We have not discussed Hazara and
Sindhudesh as yet , and both these provinces also dream of independence.What
about the non Kashmiri population of Leh/Ladakh and Jammu?

(-----Even
those who kill people with suicide bombing, these shall meet the flames of hell )

6 Now over to you Mr Nayar.I am not here to defend the war of words between an immature and wavering Government and an equally headstrong and obstinate ex Chief of its Army. I will like to take
you on three main points made by you pertaining to the Armed Forces. Firstly, do realise that policing the
Country is a secondary and totally avoidable function of the Army. And I will
be blunt here ,

the Army is taught to use maximum force when faced by a threat
and an Indian Army Soldier is taught right from basic training to :

'aim to kill-ek goli
ek dushman'.

Then he is taught un-armed combat and bayonet fighting to
slash,jab,stab and kill anyone firing at him or
his fellow soldiers. So do not equate using a soldier for internal
security duties, riot control,counter-insurgency etc with police and other para
military forces. A soldier does require complete protection of the AFSPA , and
if the situation as appreciated by netas ( who wrecked the democratic process
in the first place) , has become normal , then
withdraw the Army.This tampering of the basic rule of law and time
tested provisions by myopic and ignorant leaders who pass amendments , bills and ordinances to legalise
criminality will only cause more grief and result in employing the Indian Army
every so often to govern the Nation in the name of aid to civil authority.So
let the AFSPA stay in its present form--atleast it will caution the Government
from whistling for the Army every time they mishandle the electorate.

7 And I fail to see
the reason for your implied dis-approval of retired Army personnel, specially Generals, joining politics. I don’t think it is any one's business, same as no one
can question the others patriotism because he or she did not join the Army or
chose to join the Railways or became a journalist. And who lays down this so
called ' decent interval ' mentioned by you?? In that case let us make the man
a Governor for some time so that he learns gubernatorial nuances before jumping
into politics. You are right, Eisenhower and Macarthur finished the war
and then joined politics .

8 Yes , VK Singh
retired and then joined politics and there was no war on. So do you grudge
that? . You have forgotten Lieutenant (Junior Grade ) John Kennedy here . 15 American
Presidents served with Army/Army Reserve , followed by 9 who served State
Militias , 6 in the Navy/Naval Reserve
and 2 with the Continental Army . And the President of the U S of A is
also the Supreme Commander.We too have something like that , with powers vested
in our President and the Raksha Mantri whose knowledge of military matters------forget it ,we will not discuss it further. Why, Sir , do you single out service people for a
ban of 10 years before they can join politics-why not IAS,IPS or any government
functionary for that matter ? And would you rather have only Scientists,Bureaucrats,Godmen and Politicians
as Governors?

9 Conversely ,
should not you as a well known and well meaning journalist find out how many of
our politicians have any military service and how many of our MPs/ MLAs have
siblings who have joined the Forces???After all , the netas want to serve the
Nation don't they??

I never thought that Mr Nayar you
could be so naive!! You actually give credence to the garbage about that hush hush intelligence unit and its task
of toppling a state government and snooping on the conversations of the PM,CM
,RM et all . Are you really believing
the hysterical outbursts of Farooq Abdullah and his son that the erstwhile
Chief and the Army were planning a 'SASISH' of sorts!?From where do the funds for Army run medical camps for the civilian population come from?Who funds the building of bridges in remote areas for the civilian population?Who makes and funds playgrounds in isolated villages and hamlets??Who pays for the J&K youth taken on 'All India Tours' as part of the Sadhbhavna initiative??It is the Army which is funding all this or if you want , you may say that the Army is indirectly funding the State or the Government or its Ministers!!!

Remember every Nation gets the Army it
deserves. It is unworthy to complain about honoring all of those individuals
who served and continue to serve daily, as a part of the ongoing team that
continues to protect our way of life.

NOTE: This
article is no defence of Gen VK Singh or
for of any wrong doing or misdemeanor attributed to any serving or retired
Military Officer. It is just to bring out the injustice in having two sets of
rules, one for the Mantri ‘s and one for the Common Man.It is also to bring out
that the Media and Journalists , need not be always unbiased and objective , as
we are prone to believe